To all:- We MUST, at present, follow requests as received -- write to our own MP or Senator -- above all help both Murray Calder and Senator Lorna Milne with many signatures on petitions. Muriel M. Davidson [email protected] http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census/Petition.htm ----------------------------------------------------- Greetings All. Our past efforts in encouraging all to write letters and email to all MPs and Senators have been tremendously successful, and we thank all that done so. We have had indications that in the offices of many of our elected and appointed representatives, messages regarding support for access to Historic Census Records far outnumber messages received on any other subject. From this we can safely assume that all Members of Parliament and Senators are now most certainly aware of our feelings on this subject. We have also had indications that, with a new Minister of Industry, some things are once again happening behind the scenes. As such it is perhaps time now for a slight change in tactics to allow those working on our behalf the opportunity to see some results from their efforts. We still encourage all to write letters to their own Member of Parliament, to those Senators that represent the area in which they live, and of course the applicable Ministers. We would ask, however, for the time being at least, you restrict your letters to your own representatives, and do not send blanket letters and email to all of them. A few word about your letters and email. We have been advised that in some cases, messages to our representatives have crossed the boundary from encouraging them to support our point of view, to harassment and demands that they do so. This kind of message only serves to get their back up and even if they were inclined to see things our way, they get angry and say "To h*** with them!" I have been copied on some letters, that had they been directed to me, would have caused this reaction from myself. Our purpose in writing is to get our representatives to join in our effort, not to antagonize or annoy them. In that regard we should keep the following in mind: * Be polite and respectful in your comments. * If your purpose in writing is to inform, keep your comments factual. * If your purpose is to request their support -- request it -- don't demand it. * Above all, do not let your message be a personal attack on any individual because they might have a different point of view than you do. I repeat -- be polite and respectful. In this age of electronic communication it is easy to zip off an email and send it to many people at the same time. I confess to being guilty of frequently doing this myself. We have been reminded lately, however, that many of our representatives would put more stock in, and more readily pay attention to, an individual letter from a constituent (particularly a hand written one) than they would to 100 email from non-constituents. With this in mind we suggest for the time being, rather than using email you send personal letters via Canada Post. If mailed in Canada there is no postage required to send a letter or parcel to any Member of Parliament or Senator. If your handwriting is legible (mine isn't) use pen and ink to write it. If your handwriting is not legible by all means use your typewriter or word processor to print it out before mailing - [add signature in handwriting, please - MMD]. If you receive a response that shows a different position than those shown on the MP or Senator Scoreboards, please forward a copy to me so that their position can be brought up to date. Thank you all for your support. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. Watts [email protected] Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Permission to forward without notice is granted. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.330 / Virus Database: 184 - Release Date: 2/28/02